


There is No Care in Calamity

by Fenny2



Category: Protozone
Genre: Gen, I always wondered how CT got their hat..., I wrote it!, well would ya look at that!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:41:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26899840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fenny2/pseuds/Fenny2
Summary: Care has a talk with their creator.
Relationships: CT And Dr. Anderson[Familial]
Kudos: 2





	There is No Care in Calamity

“Alright, time to get up, kiddo!”  
Care awakened to the familiar voice of their creator, calling for them to rise once again. Their audio sensors had come on first, the only reason they could hear him, and now their other senses were coming to life. As sight powered on, they could see his vibrant eyes smiling down, despite his absence of a mouth. Today her appearance seemed to be more cartoonish than an average human would appear. They couldn’t make out the individual black strands of his hair or the wrinkles on his knuckles, and the shadows falling across his clothing seemed less constant as he crouched down, waving to make sure they could see him.  
They nodded and stood up, right as their speakers came online. [Right. Have you retrieved your meal yet? Yesterday you said you would try to grab it on your way here.] She raised up a paper bag in her hand, shaking it, “Yep! That’s one task off your list! For now you don’t really have anything to do, so you can just sit over there while I look over these blueprints.” He pointed to the operating table, where Care had been built just some months ago. They nodded and sat down, watching as Dr. Anderson began to work.  
Since their first time being powered on, they hadn’t questioned things that happened around Dr. Anderson until they would go outside the lab, and saw employees left and right with nothing like that happening. He explained it to them, but they still felt amazement watching these things happening without him seemingly noticing. At the moment they watched the rich blue paper he was writing on shift shades, turning to a more navy, a sky blue, and back to the same royal blue. After a while of watching this display, something they swore wasn’t there just seconds ago caught their eye. A little red cylinder, with a circular base, placed on his head at an angle. They hadn’t seen anything like it before. [What’s on your head?] The doctor reached up to the item, tapping the top of it. “Oh, this? It’s a top hat! I’ve been wearing it since day one!” Oh, how could they forget Dr. Anderson’s hat? How silly of them to not notice. Just because it’s new doesn’t mean it hasn’t been there before.  
[Hm, well, why do you wear it? It doesn’t seem to serve any purpose.] “Oh, this serves a purpose more important than anything else I own! You see, it’s purpose is,” she spun around so she was facing away from the desk, with one hand on her hip and the other raised into the air, and with a snap of her fingers, “Style!” As Care’s blank expression didn’t change, he sighed and lowered his hand, a tired smile on his face. “I wear it because I like how it makes me look,” Care looked up, processing this information, [Ohh, like when you come to work in that sweater instead of a dress shirt?] A grin spread across his face, “Eeexactly! I’m so glad I made you a learning bot, I would have forgotten so many important details if I’d just coded everything in!” Care nodded, not exactly understanding why knowing about ‘style’ was so important. However, the topic did seem appealing to them. [Do you have… any more like it?] Dr. Anderson laughed, “I’m afraid not, but I could always make you one!” They hesitated, but silently nodded, letting him go back to his work. He turned back to his papers, causing them to change their colors again.  
Care hopped down from the table, noticing it was getting close to the time they’re supposed to check Dr. Anderson’s assignments for the day. As they stepped out of the room, however, a voice spoke out from behind them, “Oh, one more thing.” They looked back at the doctor, awaiting her statement. She had a rare serious look in her eyes. “Kiddo, if you ever need anything, anything at all, just let me know, okay? You’re not some piece of emotionless machinery I could throw away at a moment’s notice. You are a person and if you’re ever treated as anything different, I won’t know what to do with myself. Understand?” They hesitated, but nodded. “Alright. I’ll get you that hat soon, don’t you worry about it!” As he turned back to his desk they felt relieved that change didn’t last for long. They’d seen Dr. Anderson get mad before. They weren’t exactly sure at the time why but he seemed to be mumbling about other scientists, and something about disrespect and prototypes, and he seemed to have more eyes than usual. Much more. He noticed them looking and eased their worries, telling them he wasn’t mad at them. He joked about the amount of ‘unrespectable’ scientists in the facility. From then on everytime she got a serious look on her face they feared she would get angry again, but she never did. They smiled as they walked through the halls, knowing that he would be around for quite a while still. His coworkers he was so upset about would pass on, the prototypes would get the respect they deserved, and they were sure it would all be because of him. But this was all just a fantasy. Just another hopeless wish for an impossible future.

=====

The world rushed by as they sprinted through the halls. Employees jumped out of the way as the six foot five robot ran past, too panicked to notice anything. They slid around corners, collided into walls, but they didn’t care. They had to hurry. They had to get there. They had to. They were just grabbing his lunch. They were just thanking the server as they felt it. And then there was the sudden change in their circuiting. As the line on the monitor located on their chest, the one that showcased Dr. Anderson’s heart rate, went flat. They skidded to a stop in front of the nearest medical station, knocking on the door in a panic. A concerned looking medic opened it, seeing the panicked robot in front of them. Care explained the problem as best they could, and continued to run, knowing the medics would likely get there after them this way, but the urge to check on Dr. Anderson was more powerful. They ran past the doors, past the stairwells, past the cafeteria, until they finally reached it. Dr. Anderson’s lab. Before now, the door looked welcoming, a sign of a haven. But now, it seemed to loom over them, an omen. A warning. They swung the door open anyway and the sight that awaited them erased all traces of hope. A familiar body lay on the ground. A crime scene where the only suspect was the victim’s own heart. A red haze seemed to cover his face, two black x’s where his eyes would be. A large red x over her heart. It really was too late. When the medics arrived, they found the same scene, but instead of silence, they heard that of uneven breathing, and they saw a dull red robot, hunched over the body of their creator. Crying.

=====

They waited outside. They sat by the wall, staring blankly ahead. They knew he wasn’t coming back, but where else would they go? She was their creator. Their father. They couldn’t just go to some other programmer to listen to every little instruction given. He wasn’t there anymore to make sure people were treating them with the respect he believed they deserved. One of the medics stepped out, quietly closing the door upon seeing the now small shape by the entrance. She reached out her hand. Something was resting in her palm. Care looked up. It was a tiny, red, top hat, just like the one their dad used to wear. It felt like just minutes ago they had asked for one just like it, despite that really happening weeks ago. They reached out and accepted it, a silent understanding between two complete strangers. And then it was gone as the medic walked away and they looked down at the top hat resting in their hand. And someone else came up. They couldn’t quite parse what was being said to them, but they knew they were being told to go somewhere. Of course. Without their creator they might as well have just been a walking piece of scrap metal. No time to grieve, they had to get to work.  
As they silently followed the employee, they reached up and placed the top hat on their head. A memory condensed into an accessory. As they walked, they formed ideas and plans in their head. They’d failed at being good. That must mean they couldn’t be good. They were bad. Evil, even. They had let someone die. And they knew, from now on, they would complete tasks with the utmost dedication. Whether they wanted to or not. After all, they may now be a villain, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t accept a punishment for what they did. After all, wasn’t that what this was? Having to run around all day, receiving requests, bringing them about, wasn’t that a punishment? It surely wasn’t enough for what had happened, they had let their own creator perish. They weren’t complaining, though. They never would. All good villains respond to these situations with confidence and ease. And if they were going to be a villain, they didn’t want to be a bad one. What would be a proper title for one such as themslf… Calamity Tracker? No, that would be too long to be a simple name. That would be what their nemesis, the hero, would call them. For now they would simply stick with CT. And Care may have let their emotions get the better of them, but CT wouldn’t let a single sign of uneasiness or uncertainty slip. Not a single one.


End file.
